Designer Alexandra O’Neill’s nephew was born just a few weeks ago, and she had her ever-growing family of nieces and nephews on her mind for her spring 2025 collection. “I was thinking about how we grew up as kids and how we used to run around my grandparent’s backyard in Long Island wearing matching outfits,” she said. Her drawing board began by sourcing prints and patterns reminiscent of childhood, from dainty eyelet trims to preppy ginghams and even floral prints reminiscent of the wallpaper you would find in a little girl’s room.
While there is a stereotype about adults who dress in matching looks, for O’Neill, you’re never too old to twin with your loved ones. Throughout her collection, she used identical prints and fabrications but switched up the detailing so that while you’d look similar, you wouldn’t be wearing the same item. Butter yellow embroidered fabric was used to create two gowns—the Sonja and the Pyrra—with one featuring cut-out detailing and the other without; an excellent option for any future bridesmaids.
Markarian may be known for evening dresses, but new this season was more casual daywear. Ruche detailed Italian cotton dresses and tanks accompanied some of the fancier pieces in the collection; perfect for those who may not be going to many events. “We’ve added a lot of daywear this season, which is not something we have focused on in the past,” said O’Neill. “It’s slightly more elevated than a plain cotton day dress, but these new pieces are made of great Italian cotton, with a little ruching and little floral details. You can wear them around the city, or if you throw heels on, they can even take you to a summer wedding.” And while you aren’t necessarily associating denim with Markarian, as of this season, keep Markarian in mind. The designer successfully experimented with an embroidered denim eyelet with colorful sequin florals reminiscent of the fun jeans we wore in elementary school.